Inflation Rate in 1974

What happened to inflation in 1974

The first OPEC oil embargo sent energy prices soaring, pushing US inflation into double digits for the first time in decades.

In 1974, inflation ran at 11.05%, up from 6.18% in 1973. That made it the 3rd-highest of the 65 years on record, and above the long-run average of 3.76%. For comparison, inflation sits at about 2.95% today.

What 1974's money is worth today

A rate is abstract until it's a price tag. Using the Consumer Price Index, here's what a given sum of 1974 dollars would have to grow to in order to buy the same goods today — the cumulative effect of every year of inflation in between:

Cumulative inflation since 1974 comes to about 536% — prices have risen roughly 6.4× over that span. Put another way, $100 today had the buying power of about $16 in 1974. To run your own figure across any two years, use the inflation calculator.

How 1974 compared

Across the full 1960–2024 record, inflation has averaged about 3.76%, so 1974 ran above that long-run norm. Within the 1970s, inflation averaged roughly 7.09%, and 1974 sat above its own decade. Five years earlier, in 1969, the rate was 5.46%. The following year, 1975, inflation eased to 9.14%.

This is one year out of the whole story. For the complete history — every year since 1960, the all-time high and the deflation low, the decade-by-decade view, and what drives inflation over time — see historical inflation rates, 1960–today.